Salman invites Palestinian president to Muslim leaders-US summit

Media reports said on Wednesday that the Saudi charge d’affaires in Jordan had delivered a letter to Abbas inviting him to the Summit to be held in Riyadh on May 20-21.
 
Meanwhile, an unnamed Palestinian Authority official confirmed that Abbas had agreed to a trilateral meeting with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the US president’s scheduled trip to Palestine on May 22-23.
 
On Tuesday, during a meeting with German President Frank Walter-Steinmeier, Abbas said that he was willing to meet Netanyahu in line with efforts by Trump to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks.
 
During a meeting with Abbas in the White House earlier in the month, Trump said that he saw a “very good chance” for peace between Israel and Palestine. 
 
“Hopefully something terrific can come out between the Palestinians and Israel,” he said.
 
The last round of the so-called peace talks collapsed in April 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued settlement expansion on Palestinian territories.
 
The Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law as they are built on occupied territories.
 
Following a mid-February meeting with Netanyahu, Trump said he would not pursue decades of American policy in favor of the so-called two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Trump also urged Netanyahu to "hold back on settlements for a little bit."
 
UN Security Council Resolution 2334 calls on Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem” al-Quds.
 
Over half a million Israelis live in more than 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem al-Quds.